NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Workers have removed the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in New Orleans, the second of four Confederate monuments slated for removal.

As the statue was lifted from its perch on a grassy median along one of the city’s main thoroughfares, a cheer went up from some of the dozens of protesters on the scene who have been pushing for the monument’s removal.

It was then lowered behind trucks encircled around the monument’s base and out of view of media gathered on the scene.

Officials had refused to give advance public notice of Thursday morning’s removal, citing threats of violence against contractors and workers involved in the effort. The Davis statue has been the scene of protests by supporters and opponents of the monuments’ removal.

Late last month, the first monument – a 35-foot-tall granite obelisk – was removed by masked workers under cover of darkness. The obelisk was a tribute to whites who battled a biracial Reconstruction government installed in New Orleans after the Civil War.

Also slated for removal are statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and P.G.T Beauregard.